This February, Zach, who was born and raised in the church, left Westboro, having suffered for weeks with a back injury his parents believed could be cured with prayer. After begging them to no avail to take him to the emergency room, he decided he was done being a martyr. “I don’t love this religion anymore,” he said.
In the eyes of the church, that declaration was an unforgivable offense worse than blasphemy. And it meant that Zach would be excommunicated. He knew he would never be able to talk to his parents again, and all traces of him would be scrubbed from his family’s home and their place of worship. The congregation would classify him as an apostate who would spend eternity in hell.
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The church’s obsession with homosexuality derives from Leviticus 18:22: “Thou shall not lie with mankind as womankind; it is an abomination.” However, it is a common misconception that Westboro believes homosexuality is a worse sin than any other—murder, for instance, is just as bad. The difference is a matter of tolerance. Murder is outlawed, whereas homosexuality is not. Westboro focuses on the latter because of the belief that God compels them to do it.
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This insularity reinforces the members’ belief that they are distinct from the rest of mankind and must protect themselves. Steven Hassan, an author who has extensively researched the subject of cults, refers to it as “phobia indoctrination.” “It implies that if you leave, you’ll be harmed,” says Hassan. “What happens in people’s minds is they can’t imagine a positive experience [outside of the church].”
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Every Sunday, Zach would listen to his grandfather Fred Phelps preach the word of God. His style recalled the backwoods pastors of an earlier era, all hellfire and brimstone. Pulling from the most brutal passages of the Bible, Fred laid out his argument that God was ruthless, not loving. For as long as Zach had known him, Fred’s primary focus was homosexuality. “The United States is a fag nation,” he would often say during services. His warnings of impending destruction were often bizarre and accidentally comical. “You’re going eat your babies!” he once said.
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In May, as Zach told the world about his grandfather’s “change of heart,” he underwent his own spiritual transformation. “I had an epiphany,” he recalls. In an interview with the Topeka Capital-Journal, he described his new perspective. “I feel like I have unconditional love for every person around the world,” he said. “I feel like I have found the Holy Grail, the overarching solution to solving all of society’s problems.”
Grandson of Westboro Baptist Church Founder Is Exiled From Hate Group
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